The Profit Productivity Podcast

I’m taking a break and here’s why….

This morning when I woke up, I really didn't want to.  I just wanted to stay in bed and sleep.  The last week or so has been emotionally draining for a number of reasons and it would have been easier not to do ANYTHING today.  However, last week I Turned Pro...and Pro's don't give up like that.  In this episode I explain what happened today.

It’s all in today’s title.

I think the title says it all.

I’ve been thinking a little more about yesterday’s episode and wanted to dive a bit deeper. Listen in to hear my thoughts.

There comes a point in every productivity podcasters life where they need to make an important decision....no not that one (Turning Pro) - I've already made that one.  No, this decision is whether to take the hard road or the easy road.  Ironically the road less travelled isn't the hard road...too many make that choice.  In this episode I explain the crossroads I'm at and the decision I've made.

Here's an update on how I'm settling in having made the decision to Go Pro.  It's definitely a work in progress about the activities...but the Mindset shift is a step change and it's definitely complete.  

So today was the first day since making the Steven Pressfield inspired decision to "Turn Pro".  How's it been?  Well, listen in to find out.  Spoiler alert...there were no award ceremonies and no one but me really cared (or even noticed!).

Probably the shortest podcast episode you’ll ever hear,

Yesterday I talked about my reluctance/resistance to not fully committing to my current goals.  Well I'm still on the fence today.  So listen in, be prepared to shout JFDI at your device. 

Yesterday's episode was all about me realising why I wasn't making progress on my goals at the moment.  Fundamentally, I'd not made the decision yet.  I hinted yesterday that was all I had to do...decide.  Well in today's episode I explain why I've not made the decision yet.  This is probably one of the most honest episodes I've ever recorded.

It hit me last night.  It came clear to me what's wrong.  Why I'm not making the progress I want to.   I didn't like the realisation.  But it's not a new one.  I've thought this before.  Perhaps now I might do something about it... who knows.  What do you think? 

I was on a zoom call with my 90 Day Sprint coaching group today.  One of the other participants made a point of thanking me for something I'd recommended to him at our last session.  He had tried it.  He was amazed by what it revealed...AND he was astonished at how he became more focused as a result.  Listen to find out what I shared with him.  I challenge you to try it too.

Todays episode started off with nothing much to share.  However I quite quickly got into pondering on whether I'm missing something.  Confused?  Well listen in and let me know what you think I should do.

Today was my first full day back on the job after spending a couple of days at the spa.  Last week I set a series of activity goals to help move me towards the goal of my 90 day sprint.  On Sunday I reviewed my KPIs against those activities.  In this episode I share what I discovered and explain how I'm going to adjust my behaviours as a result.  Listen to this episode to find out how I did.

In this episode I share how I'm feeling now that I've returned from my short stay at a health spa.  We all know we should take time out for ourselves, but do we do it often enough.  As a result of my two days away I've come to my own conclusion about that and if you listen in you'll here my thoughts.  I also post you a challenge...for your own good of course.

Is today’s episode longer and more informative than yesterday’s? Well why not listen and find out.

I’m spending a couple of days sat in saunas, steam rooms and pools. If I recommend taking time out, I should practice what I preach.

I watched a video of a presentation given by a guy called Ian Stanley today.  He is reputed to be the world's number 1 e mail copywriter.  He was delivering a session at a marketing conference.  He's a funny guy with a great track record of success behind him.  The first half of the presentation was full of great ideas on email marketing.  However the second half focused on some very powerful personal development strategies.  You don't get to be responsible for over $100m in sales if you haven't developed yourself in ways you can share with others. I thought his message was so powerful that I wanted to share it with you.  Listen in to find out more.

I'm sure I've asked this question before on this podcast so it's not a new topic.  Well today I was caught between trying to be proactive but settling for reactive. I explained what happened and share some things I'm going to be experimenting with to keep me on the proactive pathway and off the reactive rails.  Listen in and let me know what you think.

In today's episode I share my reflections on the day.  I'm still tracking my time and so could see where my day has gone.  I'm rather pleased with the results but can see how I can do better.  There are a few obvious changes I'm going to make.  I'm still mulling over the insights from Nir Eyal's webinar I reported on yesterday.  I share my "mulls" with you too.

Today I have been experimenting with chunking instead of chipping away at tasks and I reveal how that has gone.  I also mull over a Jordan Peterson quote.  And then I dive deep into the lessons I learnt from a webinar I attended this evening given by Nir Eyal and the folks at Mindvalley.  The title was 4 Keys To "Indestractable" Focus.   It was a glorified (but elegantly done) sales pitch that had some tremendous value.  I took notes and share what I learnt which is why the episode is slightly longer than usual.

Today I realised my approach to my 90 day sprint wasn't working well for me.  I have certainly been too ambitious with what I'm trying to achieve each day, but I may have been going about it in the wrong way.  In today's episode I reflect on what I've learnt from my reflection and how I intend to adjust my approach.

Yesterday I tried to take some time off and it didn't go very well.  Today I was back at work and getting things done again.  However the day didn't go according to plan and some things happened that were unexpected and other things didn't that I wanted to.  In this episode I reflect on my day and share the lessons I take from it.

At the end of yesterday's episode, I hinted I might take today off.  Well I did experiment with not working today...err...sort of.  So in this episode I share what I actually did, how I felt about it, and what I'll do next time I commit to taking some time off.  It's not pretty.

In today's episode I share my experience of marginal gains and how I've applied them in the past.  I then bring you completely up to date and explain how they've impacted my effort today.  And I make a commitment to you about tomorrow, I'm not convinced I'll keep!.

Today has been a landmark day.  I had one of those earth shattering realisations that seem blindingly obvious when you look back at it.  I've not been making the progress I would have liked and so in this episode, I explain why I think that is.  I share how I came to my insight and mull over how I might accelerate my progress moving forward.

It's a special day today and I offer my rambling appreciation of those who've served and sacrificed.  

In today’s episode I share with you something that happened to me that was completely unexpected. It happened right at the end of the day. It has something to do with the use of technology. But this episode focuses not on the problem technically, but on how we deal with the unexpected.

In today's episode I share a common challenge I get when I am delivering my Power of Focus Workshops.  It's about interfacing with other people when I'm recommending they isolate themselves from any distraction so they can focus and get stuff done.  There's some practical advice I share about dealing with others and today I had to walk the talk and do the same myself.  Listen in to hear what happened.

In today's episode I share insights about 90 Day Goal Setting gleaned from listening to the amazing Gavin Ingham on his IAM10 Accelerator Programme.  It covers the following: A couple of specific features every 90 day goal MUST have. The four key areas to set your goals in. How many goals to pick (it's probably not as many as you might think!). The importance of identifying appropriate KPIs. How to kick start your action taking process.

Last week was a week focused on my Power of Focus workshop and the fall out from that.  This week I am going to begin working on my first 90 day sprint.  In this episode I share with you the philosophy behind what I'm doing and explain the things I've put in place so far.

Today I have been putting together a presentation on procrastination. It has been interesting feeling the reluctance and resistance I’ve had to actually putting together a presentation on procrastination. So listen to this episode and hear my thought processes for doing this and how I overcame it.

I think the title says it all.

Today hasn't been a very productivity day.  That's because my morning routine was interrupted.  I didn't get up at the usual time of 5.00am because of something that happened last night.  In this episode I explain what that was and share how it has affected my day.

It’s been a long day delivering not one but two Power of Focus workshops.

Tomorrow I am running one of my power of focus workshops with two groups of people. So tonight I’m in a hotel in London ready to deliver my sessions in the morning. In this episode I share the thought processes I go through before I deliver a session and share some of the things tomorrow delegates have told me they want to work on

I'm on my third week of tracking my time and today has been a good day because of it.  I experienced a boost to my productivity that's been somewhat lacking over the last few months.  In this episode I share my re-discovery and ponder on what other characteristics I might start developing to increase my productivity.

The clocks went back an our here in the UK today.  I'd missed that it was happening this morning and so was somewhat confused in my "just got out of bed" stupor to see different times on my iphone and kitchen clock.  In this episode I explain what happened, how I dealt with it and then ponder on the prospect of releasing an extra hour EVERY day for ourselves.

Today I have been doing something called Single Handling.  It's a powerful way of getting focused and getting more done.  If you don't know what it is, listen to this episode and you soon will.

Today I have taken my prototype process for planning my day and run it once more.  It's still a work in progress and in today's episode, I share my thoughts on that and explain what I think my next steps are.

After a couple of weeks of experimenting with tracking my time and how I plan my days, I've finally found a way that works well for me.  In hindsight it appears obvious but as we all know, hindsight is a wonderful thing.  So today I stumbled across a way that works for me.  In today's episode I tell you all about it.

The review of and reflection on my daily time tracking activities continues.  Today I gained some very useful (if not painfully embarrassing) insights into how I'm using my time during the day.  I bunked off what I'd planned to do so I could attend a webinar on finding my MOJO.  Whilst it was a deviation from my plan it was a good use of my time.  Attending it was a good thing because it was very relevant to how I've been mismanaging my day today.  A useful day of learning for me (and if you listen, for you too).

In today's episode I reflect on how my day actually turned out compared to how I planned it to evolve yesterday.  I share what worked, what didn't, the mistakes I made and what I'll do differently for tomorrow.

During last week's time tracking experiment (which is still ongoing), I realised one of the reasons for being so easily distracted was not having decent goals.  It became very obvious as the reason behind being so easily distracted.  The black and white data in my tracking spreadsheet told me something was wrong.  A bit of digging helped me realise the lack of goals was the root cause.  Well in today's episode I what I personally discovered from the UK's leading sales and motivational speaker about why normal goal setting doesn't work and what to do instead.  SPOILER ALERT - it's 90 day goal setting.  I explain what it is, how to do it and how I've applied it myself today.  At the end of the episode I also throw out a challenge to you dear listener... up for it?

Why indeed? Listen and find out.

This last week I have tracked exactly what I've been doing throughout the week.  Every time I changed tasks, I recorded the time and what I switched to.  I did that all week, Monday through to Friday.  Today I spent some time analysing the data to see what it revealed about my productivity.  In this episode I share what I discovered, what I learnt and what I am going to change about next week.  It's quite revealing and on one level I'm somewhat embarrassed to share this with you.  But this is why I'm doing this - to hold myself to account.

No. Listen and find out why

This week I have been tracking how I am using my time.  It's a simple exercise of recording every time I change tasks.  I've amassed 4 days worth of data.  In this episode I explain what I'm going to do with that data.

Never would I have imagined I'd hit 400 episodes when I first started this journey of developing my own personal productivity.    But here I am so in this episode I reflect on the lessons from episode 100, 200 and 300 and share my additional insights after 400 episodes.